Police reopen two thousand gang rape cases

Britain's biggest ever investigation into gang rape is being launched by Scotland Yard. About 2,000 old cases will be re-examined and victims who have stayed silent will be urged to report attacks.

The 'cold-case reviews' have been ordered after an interim report revealed that a hard core of muggers carry out an alarming number of gang rapes in London, with an average of one attack for every day of the last year.

'We will examine every case reported to us in the last five years to find out every trend, pattern and common thread behind each assault,' said Commander Brian Moore, head of Operation Sapphire, the Metropolitan Police's rape task force. 'We are determined to discover what changes need to be made to the way we analyse cases, prosecute them and support the victims, as well as how we can best prevent such rapes.'

A total of 2,607 rapes were reported in the Met area last year, up 4 per cent on 2002. Only 25 per cent of perpetrators were identified, and only a fraction of that number successfully prosecuted.

Moore says he is prepared to confront any criticisms of the police that result from the review. 'The most important thing is to get the message across to women out there who have not come forward to report serious sexual assaults of the past.

'If a victim wishes to simply tell us about their experience, we are prepared to just listen, but if they want us to start investigating and try to catch the perpetrators, we will do that too.'

Operation Sapphire's review comes as youth workers and sex crime experts across the country call for an urgent inquiry into the cause of the surge in rapes, particularly those committed by teenagers as part of gang initiation rites. The latest Home Office figures show that one-third of all sex crimes are now committed by offenders under 21. The number of rapes by gangs of youths has risen sharply in recent years, mirroring a dramatic rise in gang culture and gun crime.

Officers from Operation Sapphire say many gangs use these attacks for a dual purpose: as part of an initiation ceremony and to ensure new members are not police informants. This echoes the findings of a survey by the Youth Justice Board which uncovered anecdotal evidence of girls being forced into group sex as part of gang initiations in inner-city estates across the country.

Last month an 18-year-old woman was abducted in the street in the early hours and raped by a gang of young men. A week earlier, two women were tied to a bed and raped by three masked men who broke into their flat in Saffron Walden, Essex. The police believe the women had been specifically targeted.

One former north London gang member, speaking on condition of anonymity, gave an insight into the mentality that drives such attacks. 'Once I joined the gang my attitude to life started to change. I became more aggressive and stopped listening to anyone who wasn't part of our circle. I'm not going to say if I ever raped anyone, but I know why people go down that path. When you're in a gang, it becomes your whole life. You do whatever you like.'

One of the most brutal gang rapes of recent years took place in the summer of 2000 when 37-year-old Delphi Newman was raped on the towpath of the Grand Union Canal in west London by a gang of five boys and one girl. After the Old Bailey trial the victim waived her legal right to anonymity to reveal the full brutality of the attack.

Moore is determined that after Operation Sapphire's review, police will be able to lessen the chance of such cases taking place. 'We have a team of six dedicated officers who will compare all the new information to that received over the past decade,' he said.